What exactly is a ‘smart city? There’s no globally agreed-on definition for the term smart city. My own definition goes something like this: a smart city is an approach to urbanization that uses innovative technologies to enhance community services and economic opportunities, improves city infrastructure, reduces costs and resource consumption, and increases civic engagement. The term smart city is much less important than the purpose of the work and the outcomes. In my view, there’s no such thing as a completed smart city. I can’t think of an example where all the work has been finished and the designers and implementers have, after completing their tasks, washed their hands and said, “We’re done. Voilà! Here’s your smart city.” After all, is a city ever completed? What is the point of making a city “smart?” The most basic definition of a smart city is one that responds to its citizens’ needs in new and improved ways. This is the right place to start when discussing the future of cities. Cities are defined by the human experience. They exist in support of people, are the invention of people, and deeply reflect a people’s culture. Many cities suffer the same challenges. Finding a parking space, for example, is a universal pain. But the way problems are solved is often specific to each community. For every challenge that is similar, others are often unique. A smart city is defined by its people. If Helsinki believes that it’s creating a better quality of life for its people in its innovative use of technology, it has the right to call itself a smart city. What role does technology play in the smart city movement? It’s impossible to define the notion of a smart city without introducing the concept of a digital infrastructure (DI). A DI is foundational capability — such as communication networks, computer processing, or computer storage — to enable the operations of information technology in a city. A DI provides the systems needed to support, automate, and control the availability and movement of data, information, and services between people, between people and machines, and between machines. Smart cities leverage DI to add digital intelligence to communities. Whereas emotional intelligence is about relationships between humans, digital intelligence is the relationship between people and technology. Through the underlying DI and what it enables, city employees and residents can learn to take advantage of the benefits of technology. Businesses can run more efficiently with fast Internet access and more city services can be provided conveniently online and via smartphone apps. Digital intelligence enables those tasked with delivering smarter services to have the skills and tools to achieve better outcomes. Are there any incorrect definitions of a “smart city” being used? There are five things that come to mind that should not be used to define a smart city: · A smart city is not an upgrade from a “dumb city.” All cities are complex, amazing feats of human creativity. They aren’t dumb and have never been. Becoming a smart city is more about becoming smarter in the use of technology to make what the city does better and to provide solutions to problems that traditionally have been difficult to solve. · A smart city is not a surveillance city. Deploying smart city technology that includes sensors should be specifically and carefully regulated by rules — even legislation — in order to protect the privacy of the members of the community. · A smart city is not about specific gadgets and apps. There will always be better tools in the future. Limiting a definition to tools that exist now will make any definition quickly outdated. · A smart city is not a temporary technology trend. Applying technology to make cities operate better has been under way for several decades. The real action of smart cities is happening now, but the most significant results will be seen in the years ahead. · A smart city is not a concept that only applies to big cities. It certainly seems that only big cities get credit for being smart cities. The same names pop up all the time: London, Paris, Moscow, Melbourne, Dublin, Vienna, Barcelona, San Francisco, and others. Sure, these incredible cities have impressive smart city initiatives, but any city can pursue the goal of becoming smarter. Dr. Jonathan Reichental Dr. Jonathan Reichental is a multiple-award-winning technology and business leader whose career has spanned both the private and public sectors. He’s been a senior software engineering manager, a director of technology innovation, and has served as chief information officer at both O’Reilly Media and the City of Palo Alto, California. Reichental is currently the founder of advisory, investment, and education firm, Human Future, and also creates online education for LinkedIn Learning. He has written two books on the future of cities: Smart Cities for Dummies and Exploring Smart Cities Activity Book for Kids.
✔ Author(s): Jonathan Reichental
✔ Title: Smart Cities For Dummies
✔ Rating : 4.8 out of 5 base on (66 reviews)
✔ ISBN-10: 111967994X
✔ ISBN-13: 9781119679943
✔ Language: English
✔ Format ebook: PDF, EPUB, Kindle, Audio, HTML and MOBI
✔ Device compatibles: Android, iOS, PC and Amazon Kindle
Readers' opinions about Smart Cities For Dummies by Jonathan Reichental
Sarah Franklin
What a rollercoaster of emotions! I laughed, cried, and everything in between. The author's ability to evoke such raw feelings is truly commendable. It's a story that will stay with me forever.
Daphne Garner
I must confess, this book made me shed tears like never before. The themes of love, loss, and resilience struck a chord with my soul. It was an emotional journey I'm grateful to have taken.
Rosa Bax
The plot twists were executed masterfully. I was left gasping at every unexpected turn, and the suspense kept me on edge throughout. Bravo to the author for keeping me guessing.
